Embattled Nightclub Reopens After Alcohol License Suspension

NEWPORT NEWS — The Alley's owners paid $20,500 in fines and closed for 30 days, during which they remodeled the club.

The Alley, a nightclub that straddles the Newport News and Hampton city limits, reopened Wednesday evening after serving a 30-day alcohol license suspension and paying $20,500 in fines for violating state laws.

The license suspension was not related to the Dec. 15 fatal shooting of a man in the nightclub's parking lot. Officials from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control are still investigating that case, according to spokeswoman Becky Gettings.

The most recent suspension stemmed from an ABC board decision on May 2 regarding disorderly conduct, failing to maintain peace and good order and alcohol violations at the Alley between October 2003 and November 2004.

Records show the nightclub paid $20,500 in fines to cut in half a 60-day alcohol-license suspension order.

The suspension order was lifted Jan. 15, and the club reopened Wednesday.

The nightclub has appealed the ABC order, and a Feb. 2 date has been set in Newport News Circuit Court, Gettings said.

Brian Phillips, the club's general manager, said club owners decided to go ahead with the suspension because they planned to remodel the interior.

While the club was closed during the ABC license suspension, he said, workers installed new carpet, put up new walls, painted, and added seating and a VIP area. *